Why are games choppy and freezing on new High End custom build? - please help

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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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I've built a new gaming rig with my son (specs below) and several of his games are having issues. Garry's Mod and TF2 becomes choppy and weapon/HUD jittery, eventually freezes. Fall Out 4 also plays fine for a while, then suddenly freezes (reboot needed). BeamNG Drive plays fine for a few minutes then crashes and exits full game.

We tried re-installing each game, deleting and re-installing mods, diagnosed game settings using NVidia console and auto optimizer for each, diagnosed memory with Wind10 util and various other full PC diagnostics using ASUS tool. Tried to turn VSync off using NVidia Control Panel 3D settings (same results), then VSync on with adaptive (same results).

Most graphic settings on games are set to high or ultra and this rig should be able to handle we think. We also experimented with lowering some settings -- same glitches.

PLEASE, if ANYONE has any ideas or suggestions they would be MOST welcome.

Thanks in advance!!!

New Rig Specs:
- Intel Core i7 6700K 4.00 GHz Unlocked Quad Core Skylake Desktop Processor, Socket LGA 1151 [BX80662I76700K]
- ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
- GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 Windforce OC GV-N1060WF2OC-6GD Video Card
- 1 x G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) Intel Z170 Desktop Memory
- EVGA 650 GQ, 80+ GOLD 650W, Semi Modular, EVGA ECO Mode (PSU)
- Boot drive on: Crucial M500 480GB SATA Internal Solid State Drive CT480M500SSD1
- Steam Games installed on new: WD Black 2TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD2003FZEX
- Corsair Hydro Series Cooling H75 Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (plus two other case fans)
- AOC G2260VWQ6 Gaming 21.5'' LCD Monitor (1080p - 60hz)
- NZXT S340 Matte Black/Red Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
- Windows 10 Home Basic 64bit OEM

Modest if no OC used (5% - just used ASUS auto tune), and all the component temps seem fine (max 30 degrees).


 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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1,510




Yes, we turned this off and went to the BIOS and restored all defaults. Also using default GPU settings. Nothing funky running ... same issues.
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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Hello James,

Yes, we went to this link before and downloaded latest drivers, utilities, etc. and installed them all. Also used EZUpdate to ensure everything was up to date. We then figured we should make sure everything is using standard default settings and went to BIOS settings, GPU settings, etc. and set everything to defaults. Our theory is that this new RIG is so new and powerful (latest components and such), that it should run these (somewhat older games) MUCH better than my son's old laptop. But we are still getting game play jitters and occasional freezes (reboots needed). Very strange.

We did not expect to have to tune every corner of these components for such a new build so this is frustrating. Is there some general guidelines or steps we should be following to ensure we have taken all the right steps? We are relatively new at this (my son calls us "noobs" LOL) so we do not have any where near the experience you masters have out there! So any suggestions are welcome -- like SW that could diagnose issues, or steps we may have overlooked.

Thanks!!!
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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Jan 2, 2014
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You shouldn't have to tune anything, but downloading the drivers is part of the installation, and some people forget.

Here's one more thing to try:

If you have graphics or driver issues, one of the most common fixes is a clean uninstall and removal of your graphics drivers.

To uninstall your drivers, first download and run Display Driver Uninstaller, and follow it's recommendations of booting into safe mode and ect.
(This is a direct download link so you don't grab the wrong version)
http://www.guru3d.com/files-get/display-driver-uninstaller-download,20.html

You'll download a compressed file called "[Guru3D.com]-DDU.zip"
Right click and choose extract.
Go into the folder and run the DDU v##.##.exe
This will extract more files to this folder.
Run Display Driver Uninstaller.exe
Choose Yes when it asks you to boot into SafeMode.
After you've rebooted into safe mode.
When DDU comes up, if it hasn't selected your GPU manufacturer (Nvidia/AMD/Intel) then choose it from the drop down list
Press the Clean and Restart option
If a window comes up asking to disable the Windows automatic installation of display drivers click yes.

After (or before removing the old drivers, just put the new ones on the desktop or somewhere handy) rebooting back into Windows, manually download the latest drivers from Nvidia or AMD, don't use auto detect, choose you GPU model and OS from the drop down lists.
Nvidia: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
AMD: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
Intel: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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1,510


- - -

Thanks for these details steps. We followed them to the letter and re-installed a clean set of NVidia drivers, but this did not seem to make any difference unfortunately.

Could there be a component defect somewhere? Could some benchmarking tool help pinpoint a component issue? Not sure.

Thanks again!
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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Jan 2, 2014
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So... it's POSSIBLE you screwed up the initial driver installs by doing them all at once and then restarting the computer (or not)

I'd try to reinstall windows, then download your mobo drivers and graphics drivers, (only the drivers, not the utilities, don't use any auto driver update utilities, they can break things, like what you're experience for example) you should only need the motherboard INF, Lan and Audio drivers, maybe the Sata/AHCI drivers.

Install the drivers 1 at a time, and restart the computer after each install. it's slow, but it's the safe way of doing it.
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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I did install all the drivers at once before any restarts, and I used the CD-ROMS that came with the mobo and GPU -- figured that was the right thing to do. I did this after updating Win10 to the latest.

So I guess your suggestion makes sense (though painful).

So to recap, do you think this is the correct course of action:
1 - reinstall Win10, activate, update to latest Win10 using Windows Update, ignore any messages about downloading drivers.
2 - manually download Asus mobo drivers (latest bios, lan, audio, sata)
3 - install one by one and reboot
4 - download and install latest nvidia driver manually from link u gave me before, reboot
5 - install Steam and games with issues
6 - Use Nvidia Geforce Experience (SW comes with drivers) to scan and optimize settings for games installed
7 - Then try a game again for jitters and pray

I miss anything? Thanks!!!
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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Jan 2, 2014
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yes, mostly correct, except I would save the windows 10 updates for after the drivers, as it may download the wrong drivers.

You can predownload or just copy the correct mobo drivers onto a usb flash drive so you have ready access to them.

The CDs that come with mobos and GPUs are always useless and outdated, except in the odd chance that you lan ports don't work and you need a copy of a lan driver.
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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1,510


Thanks for this suggestion. I download the latest memtest86+ and we are running it now again for a few hours - no errors so far, but we have to wait and see.

We are also now seeing BSOD's with CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT errors, so I download Intel's CPU Disgnostic Tool, but that CPU test passed fine.

Thanks
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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Hello James,

We have not re-installed Win10 just yet. We started getting BSOD's with CLOCK WATCHDOG TIMEOUT ERROR after using the machine for a while and after getting the frame jitters and freezes. We even got it one watching a YouTube video! So we have been spending some time investigating that error and possible reasons/solutions -- thinking this may now be HW related. I have posted information and mem dump files on the bleepingcomputer.com forum for analysis/support and will post back here once I hear back.

May still need to do a full Win10 reinstall ... thx!
 
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gamerk316

gamerk316

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Jul 8, 2008
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The only time I've seen CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT thrown is due to overheating, a faulty Motherboard, or RAM issues. Freezing in games could be attributed to any of the three as well.
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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Yes, I did that a few days ago ... used the ASUS BIOS tool that auto downloads the latest and installs. I also checked online and it indeed installed the latest available for this mobo. I also reset BIOS to defaults. Same issues -- current theory leaning toward lurking drivers that still have issues or a bad memory stick. I'm running memtest86+ now (3 passes are clean so far ... letting it go over night)
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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Yes, I may do this soon. I'm waiting for an overnight run with memtest86+ (3 passes are clean so far...).
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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1,510
- memtest86+ ran clean for 24+ hours.
- we have the very latest BIOS.
- we ran extensive video GPU testing using Furmark with no issues.
- we ran Intel CPU Diagnostic Tool with no issues.
- we also reset Win10 reinstalling everything starting from scratch and installed very latest drivers + win updates.

We are getting very frequent BSOD's now, even just using a Chrome Browser.

I believe we have ruled out various components from being the issue: CPU is fine, RAM is fine, GPU is fine, Win10/Drivers are fine, even SSD life test was fine.

It must be the motherboard.
 
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gamerk316

gamerk316

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Jul 8, 2008
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Leaning mobo then. Either that, or there's something in the RAM settings that allows it to pass memtest but fail in the real world. For example: Some mobos don't do well with all RAM slots occupied.

Kind of a last gasp here: Run with a single RAM stick, and the integrated GPU. If the problems go away, then you can isolate the cause. If not, it's almost certainly the motherboard.
 
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Steven_465

Commendable
Nov 12, 2016
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1,510
Interesting recommendations.

Well, in fact, I went as far as to execute the following extreme measures:

1. I returned and replaced the mobo with a different brand (MSI Z170A Gaming Pro)
2. I removed the graphics card to use mobo standard graphics
3. I re-installed Win10 on new 2TB WD Black drive to rule out my old SSD which was being used as boot drive
4. I replaced the RAM (returned those also) with another brand (Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000Mhz)

Verdict = Same exact stuff happening. Games freeze (even older ones like Half Life 2). Varied BSOD's after a while, even when simply running a Youtube video.

I even tried changing monitors (from HDMI to DVI cables); tried removing speakers; and made sure BIOS is up to date and set to standard settings.

MY ONLY FINAL CONCLUSION = that it must be the CPU (which is usually very rare). I did run the Intel CPU Diagnostic Tool, and yes that passed fine. But when I try to run the Prime95 tool with a blend stress test I get BSOD's pretty quickly. And yes, I verified CPU temps and they never go past 62 degrees C under stress, and I'm using a liquid cooler and NO overclocking.

I doubt this has anything to do with the PSU, especially since the graphics card is removed and that uses the most power. And I doubt it's the actual Computer Case.

So, since I ordered my CPU from Amazon, they are shipping me a replacement to try.

WISH ME LUCK -- unless you have any other ideas.

(apologies for sounding frustrated ... it's been nuts trying to isolate this ... and this board has been GREAT!!!)
 
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